HI,
Hearing the news that the Ontario government has put out for tender a new gas generation station really struck me hard, particularly with sad incredulity. How is it, in this day and age, with climate crisis events happening regularly with great frequency across Canada that our biggest and richest province is looking backward? Do the ruling politicians feel smug in knowing that Ontario’s electrical grid is already 90% green, thinking their actions won’t concern the population and contribute to the growing CO2 concentration in our atmosphere and it's already untoward effects? Such poor thinking. Shameful. How backward.
We know that in order for the world to survive in a state similar to that which we experience today (or experienced a decade ago), we have to basically eliminate the use of fossil fuels, the sooner the better. Many say by 2030, others are ludicrously saying a generation from now. Every week we see a new record set in atmospheric CO2. Each additional year of CO2 emissions and each additional rise of atmospheric temperature sentences us and future inhabitants to increasing extremes of climate, rising oceans, rapidly changing environments, food insecurity, forced migration, species extinction, and lots more. The evidence is everywhere to see and in the news daily.
The big question, which really no ‘leader’ has answered, nor seemingly wants to answer, even try, is how are we to ban fossil fuels? What is the strategy? What is the plan that demonstrates responsible leadership and concern beyond the next electoral cycle?
So how can we get rid of fossil fuels? Marshall Brain, futurist, inventor, North Carolina State University professor, writer and creator of “How Stuff Works” recently wrote an article in WRAL TechWire to explain how it could happen. I quote:
"HOW WOULD HUMANITY BAN FOSSIL FUELS?
Humanity, if we were responsible stewards of our ecosystem, could ban fossil fuels now. The deadline for the ban might be 2030. Or humanity can wait for one of the three dire catastrophes (or several others) to occur and use the crisis to spur a ban on fossil fuels. Either way, fossil fuels must be banned.
So, the question becomes: how can we ban fossil fuels on planet Earth by 2030? The short answer comes in six parts:
- Global leaders would unite to declare a global ban on fossil fuels by 2030.
- Global leaders would allocate several trillion dollars to fund the ban.
- All coal-fired, natural-gas-fired, and oil-fired power plants would be phased out over, say, five years. They would be replaced by solar, wind and geothermal sources plus batteries. We would spend the money necessary to rapidly fund the conversion. [The natural gas power plants might also switch over to synthetic natural gas]
- Many parts of the economy are currently powered by natural gas, including home heating, water heating, cooking, and industrial heating applications. Synthetic natural gas plants could produce synthetic natural gas from sunlight. We would spend the money necessary to rapidly build out the synthetic natural gas plants at sufficient scale.
- Many parts of our transportation infrastructure (including cars, trucks, ships, trains, airplanes, along with nearly all agricultural vehicles) currently use liquid fossil fuels. Some of this could be converted to electric vehicles. The rest could switch over to using synthetic liquid fuels derived from sunlight. We would spend the money necessary to rapidly build out the electric vehicles and the synthetic fuel plants at sufficient scale.
- In any cases where a quick switch from fossil fuels cannot happen, we would apply a fee, for example a fee of $1.50 for every gallon of gasoline. The $1.50 would fund immediate extraction of the carbon dioxide created by the fossil fuel back out of the atmosphere.
If humanity does not take these steps, we eventually face an existential threat. There will be so much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that global heating destroys human civilization and the ecosystem as a whole. This video can help you understand this scenario: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWoiBpfvdx0."
There it is; a first stab. I hope you found this as interesting as I. It was the first time I have ever read a scenario to actually ban that which is destroying us. You’ll find lots more prescient and interesting reading in today’s Planetary Health Weekly, #18 of 2023. Please do read on.
Best, david
David Zakus, Editor and Publisher
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IN COMPLETE SOLIDARITY WITH UKRAINE SEEKING PEACE AND VICTORY |
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"FIGHTING PLAGUE IN INDIA" |
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Famous Ukrainian pathologist and bacteriologist V. Vysokovich (1854-1912) and young epidemiologist D. Zabolotny (1866-1929) fight against plague in Bombay in 1896. Artist: S. Odaynk in: "The Way Artists See It" (1994; p. 101) by A. Grando, founder and director of the Central Museum of Medicine of Ukraine in Kyiv. (ISBN
5-7707-6698-0) Dr. Vysokovich was the Head of the Department of Pathologic Anatomy in the Medical Faculty of St. Volodymyr Kyiv University, one of the founders of the Society of Struggle with Infectious Diseases and Kyiv Bacteriological Institute. |
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AND SOLIDARITY TOO WITH THE BRAVE PROTESTERS IN IRAN (AND AFGHANISTAN AND RUSSIA) |
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CLIMATE AND BIODIVERSITY CRISES UPDATES
GLOBAL HEALTH NEWS
EMILY'S BLOG: "A Week In Vietnam"
SPOTLIGHT ON HUMAN RIGHTS
SPOTLIGHT ON INDIGENOUS WELLNESS
SPOTLIGHT ON POLICY
SPOTLIGHT ON MEDIA
SPOTLIGHT ON EDUCATION
MAY READING
QUOTE OF THE WEEK on Shell Oil "creating exactly the devastating outcomes they predicted."
FYI #1
FYI #2
UPCOMING EVENTS
ENDSHOTS: Early Spring Buds and Flowers, Oakville, Ontario
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CLIMATE & BIODIVERSITY CRISES UPDATES |
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Revealed: UAE Plans Huge Oil And Gas Expansion As It Hosts UN Climate Summit |
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Adnoc is the world’s 11th biggest oil and gas producer and delivered more than a billion barrels of oil equivalent in 2021. Credit: Giuseppe Cacace/AFP/Getty Images
The United Arab Emirates, which is hosting this year’s UN climate summit, has the third biggest net zero-busting plans for oil and gas expansion in the world, the Guardian can reveal. Its plans are surpassed only by Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
The CEO of the UAE’s national oil company, Adnoc, has been controversially appointed president of the UN’s COP28 summit in December, which is seen as crucial with time running out to end the climate crisis. But Sultan Al Jaber is overseeing expansion to produce oil and gas equivalent to 7.5bn barrels of oil, according to new data, 90% of which would have to remain in the ground to meet the net zero scenario set out by the International Energy Agency.
Adnoc is the world’s 11th biggest oil and gas producer and delivered more than a billion barrels of oil equivalent (BBOE) in 2021. However, the company has big short-term expansion plans, the new analysis shows, with plans to add 7.6 BBOE to its production portfolio in the coming years – the fifth largest increase in the world.
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‘Frightening’: Record-Busting Heat And Drought Hit Europe In 2022 |
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Guardian graphic. Credit: Copernicus ERA5
The climate crisis had “frightening” impacts in Europe last year, with heatwaves killing more than 20,000 people and drought withering crops, an EU report has found.
Its writers said drought was already baked in for many farmers in 2023. The only way to limit the rising damages of global heating was rapidly to cut carbon emissions, they said.
The report, from the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), said widespread heatwaves had led to Europe suffering its hottest summer on record in 2022, by a large margin. These would have been virtually impossible without global heating and had led to many premature deaths.
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‘Without The Ice Cap, We Cannot Live’: The Andes Community Devastated By Climate Crisis |
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Quelccaya park ranger Yolanda Quispe in her cabin near the snow-capped peak. Credit: Ángela Ponce
As the turquoise lake at the foot of the Quelccaya glacier comes into view, Yolanda Quispe stops to look. She is sure more ice has melted since her last visit a few weeks ago. When Quispe, a park ranger, was born in 1982, Quelccaya, in the central Andes of Peru, was the world’s largest tropical ice cap.
Forty years on, it has almost halved in size, and been eclipsed as the world’s largest by Coropuna, also in the Peruvian Andes. A recent study suggests it might soon disappear. “It makes me very sad. Quelccaya is like a father, a mother to me. To protect it is an honour,” she says.
As the climate crisis takes hold and the ice cap melts, the lives of Quispe and her community in Phinaya are changing irrevocably.
“The ice cap is important for everyone – for those who live in Cusco, for those who are here in Phinaya,” says Quispe. “Without the ice cap, without water, we cannot live. It will affect, above all, our children and grandchildren. It is they who will be affected the most by climate change.”
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A Kingdom Built On Oil Now Controls The World’s Climate Progress |
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Credit: Christophe Viseux
In the months before the signing of the Paris Agreement, the then-crown prince of oil-rich Abu Dhabi wondered aloud about the fate of his sheikhdom at the end of the fossil fuel era. “After we have loaded this last barrel of oil, are we going to feel sad?” Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan asked attendees at the 2015 Government Summit in the United Arab Emirates. “If our investment today is right, I think—dear brothers and sisters—we will celebrate that moment.”
Soon the sheikh handed the job of running the Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., the world’s 12th-largest producer of oil and gas, to an Emirati renewables executive named Sultan Al Jaber. The move seemed to signal a shift in a country sitting atop about $9 trillion in untapped oil. The extraordinary wealth generated by Adnoc has filled a sparsely populated desert with gleaming cityscapes, lush golf courses and giant airports over just a few decades. It was to be entrusted to someone who’d spent much of his career making investments in renewable energy and trying without success to build a zero-carbon city in the desert. The mission: Figuring out how to sell energy indefinitely, even if that means doing so—at some point—without planet-warming emissions.
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MORE CLIMATE CRISIS RELATED NEWS |
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Tuberculosis, Syphilis, Whooping Cough, Mumps And Measles: Doctors Alarmed At Rise Of ‘Retro’ Diseases |
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Credit: The Star
A surge in “retro” conditions that are typically rare in Canada highlights how people neglecting routine vaccinations is leading to higher infection rates and in some cases outbreaks, according to an infectious diseases expert.
The most recent example is an outbreak of pertussis, also known as whooping cough, in Alberta, which was declared in January and continues to grow.
“We shouldn’t be having whooping cough outbreaks,” said Dr. Lynora Saxinger, an infectious diseases expert at the University of Alberta.
“We would usually consider pertussis to be very rare in Canada … Pertussis seems very retro, but we’re seeing a lot of retro diseases these days and it seems like bad sign — tuberculosis, syphilis, pertussis, it’s like an infectious diseases textbook from the turn of the previous century.”
As of Friday, there were 126 confirmed cases of pertussis in the province, with all but four of those in the south zone, Alberta Health Services (AHS) said.
Over the pandemic, certain parts of Canada and the U.S. saw surges in congenital syphilis and tuberculosis, which is likely due to the overall impact COVID-19 had on public health.
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W.H.O. Warns Of Bio-Risk In Sudan After Lab Is Seized |
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Credit: The Star
CNN health correspondent Elizabeth Cohen explains the W.H.O. warning of biological risk in Sudan after a lab was seized in the fighting.
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This past March, I had the opportunity to travel to Vietnam. On the way, I had a twenty-four-hour layover in Singapore. While walking through the city I noticed how the use of green spaces is tied into industry and development. Skyscrapers were scattered with trees on balconies and rooftops. These details brought a smile to my face as I thought about our climate crisis, the need for green spaces, and priorities other than incessant development. For lunch and dinner, I went to stalls at hawker centers and very much appreciated the sense of community these areas provided. I enjoyed being around all the people and feeling immersed in the daily life of those living in this small island nation. It felt like less of an individualistic setting compared to restaurants in the United States. After eating, I found myself at the Gardens by the Bay botanical garden and was in awe by the display of horticulture. If this experience was in my home country, without a doubt, there would be an admission ticket. Here, I was able to roam about nature free of charge and realized the sad fact that this is not always available.
Once arriving in Vietnam I stayed in Ho Chi Minh City where a friend was studying. This country brought me many firsts: going to Monkey Island and having my water bottle stolen by a monkey, experiencing the holistic practice of sound healing, riding on a motorcycle, drinking blended coconut coffee, swimming in the Gulf of Thailand while in Phú Quốc, and seeing a water puppet show (a great recommendation from PHW editor David). I visited the Mekong River Delta and the Cai Rang floating market at sunrise and saw the importance of local products and trade. We stopped by Sau Hoai’s hu tieu (rice noodles) where the noodles are dyed sustainably with the coloring coming from fruits and vegetables. The orange color comes from gac fruit, indigo from butterfly pea flowers, green from pandan leaves, purple from the magenta plant, and pink from beetroots and red dragon fruit. I loved seeing how nature could intersect with business.
I’m currently studying public health and global health at the University of Washington in Seattle. In a class taught by Stephen Bezruchka (of Bez’s Blogs in the PHW), I learned about the Happiness Scale. During my time abroad I found myself reflecting on what normalities could improve happiness scales around the world and in my country of origin. Aspects of community stuck out to me the most. The many parks and markets provided areas to engage with others. My trip would not have been the same without the kindness of nearly every single person I encountered. From helping with directions to recommendations, and just checking in with one another, I hadn’t felt that much love from strangers anywhere else I have been. I wish I could have stayed longer.
The big question I have from all my experiences in Vietnam is what do we owe each other? I’ll admit I am still figuring that one out, but what I do know is that the world becomes a better place when compassion is passed around between strangers. It’s a reminder that in our climate crisis, we need to unite both on a domestic and international level. Although individuals can make changes in their personal lives to help mitigate the effects of climate change, our representatives and countries need to work together, develop compassion with others, and enact changes.
Below attached are pictures of a building in Singapore, the Cai Rang floating market in Vietnam, and the dyed noodles.
All the best, Emily Aurora Long, Seattle, WA
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SPOTLIGHT ON HUMAN RIGHTS |
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Digital Inclusion For All - Ensuring Access For Older Adults In The Digital Age |
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Credit: ITU GLOBAL CONNECTIVITY REPORT 2022
The digital inclusion of older adults is critical to achieving universal internet connectivity and represents one of the shared global challenges of the twenty-first century. In the modern era, a fast and reliable internet connection is no longer a luxury but essential to building prosperous nations and increasing the economic participation of all citizens. Reliable internet access is also critical for ensuring social cohesion, improved health outcomes, and life-long learning among aging populations. This issue brief, produced by FP Analytics with support from AARP, examines progress, challenges, and opportunities for ensuring universal digital access for older adults.
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Hope Mounts As Decision On Same Sex Marriage In India Moves Closer |
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Surabhi Mitra, right, with her partner Paromita at their commitment ring ceremony.
Credit: Casper Bhoot
Dr. Surabhi Mitra’s life has been one of overachievement and organisation; so there’s no reason why her wedding would be anything different.
“We’ve thought about it for a very long time. We have selected the list of songs and which would play at sunset and sunrise, which colour theme we would use,” enthuses Dr. Mitra, a psychiatrist from Nagpur, a sleepy, interior Indian city that lies roughly in the very centre of the vast subcontinent.
“We know who would manage the wedding, who would be the photographer and who would be the florist. It will be a destination wedding; intimate with close friends, in a Bengali style.”
Dr. Mitra’s partner, Paromita, is a woman. Same-sex marriage in India is illegal despite the country being home to the world’s largest LGBTQ+ community numbering more than 135 million people, according to international estimates.
Dr. Mitra and Paromita have a reason, though, to be optimistic that their dream wedding might take place sooner rather than later. They are one of 18 couples who have petitioned India’s Supreme Court to legalize same sex marriage in India.
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SPOTLIGHT ON INDIGENOUS WELLNESS |
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Indigenous Health Organizations Launch RISE ABOVE RACISM Campaign, Championing A Call For Allies Within The Canadian Healthcare System |
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Credit: Rise Above Racism
In an effort to bring awareness and change to the Canadian healthcare system for Indigenous peoples, the First Nations Health Managers Association, First Peoples Wellness Circle and Thunderbird Partnership Foundation are excited to announce the launch of the newest awareness campaign, “Rise Above Racism” (RAR). The RAR campaign, produced by NationTalk, calls on allies across the nation and brings to the forefront the issues of anti-Indigenous racism within the Canadian Healthcare system. The startling fact that fully 78% of Indigenous people have experienced racism in healthcare must be addressed. Source: ‘Share Your Story’ Indigenous-Specific Racism & Discrimination in Health Care Across the Champlain Region: Summary Report.©Wabano Centre for Aboriginal Health, 2022
The facts don’t lie. Research has shown that 76% of Indigenous Peoples felt they would have received better service if they had hidden their Indigenous identity. Furthermore, of the 78% who reported experiencing racism in healthcare, 73% felt their experience had negatively impacted their mental wellbeing. Colonial practices that take place in the Canadian healthcare system negatively impacts the health and life expectancy of Indigenous Peoples, who live 10 years less than the average Canadian. Source: ‘Share Your Story’ Indigenous-Specific Racism & Discrimination in Health CareAcross the Champlain Region: Summary Report.©Wabano Centre for Aboriginal Health, 2022
“I encourage everyone to check out the powerful “RISE Above Racism” campaign”, said the Honourable Patty Hajdu P.C., M.P., Minister of Indigenous Services. “The messages are often hard to hear, but for the people who experience racism on a regular basis, it’s even harder to live through. We can all be allies to end racism in health care settings. I encourage all health professionals and employees in health care settings to learn and listen, to challenge harmful and dangerous attitudes and to make the changes in your workplaces at every level so that Indigenous Peoples can feel and be safe when accessing health services.”
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‘Dystopian’ Killings And Arrests Of Filipino Activists As Companies Battle For Raw Materials |
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Credit: Alliance to Stop Mining
Businesses headquartered in Europe are responsible for an “explosion of exploitation” in the Philippines that has led to illegal arrests and the killings of human rights activists, a new report warns.
Indigenous communities and climate fighters have been murdered, attacked, illegally arrested and detained for resisting mining operations led by several European companies, according to the international law firm Global Rights Compliance (GRC).
The Philippines is one of the most resource-rich countries in the world and attracts large investments from foreign businesses, particularly in the fields of mining, agribusiness and energy. It could see as many as 190 new mining projects opened before 2026.
The GRC report notes that since 2012, 270 human rights defenders have been killed in the Philippines, many of whom were working to expose business-related human rights abuses in illegal logging, mining and agricultural operations.
“The situation is truly dystopian,” said Lara Strangways, Global Rights Compliance’s head of business and human rights, who warned that with the recent lifting of a decade-long moratorium on new mining projects, attacks are likely to get much worse.
“We are witnessing the simultaneous irreparable destruction of the Filipino environment, and also the murder and violence against those who try to protect it – all on behalf of multinational businesses protecting their balance sheets.”
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U.S. Banks Accused Of Placing 'Profit Over People And Our Planet' As Investor Climate Resolutions Fail |
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Climate activists demonstrate outside Bank of America headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina on April 24, 2023. Credit: Stop the Money Pipeline/Twitter
Activists on Tuesday lamented their failure of various climate and Indigenous rights resolutions at the annual shareholder meetings of some of the nation's biggest banks, with one campaigner accusing the financial institutions of prioritizing "profit over people and our planet."
Just 10% of Citigroup shareholders and 7% of those owning Bank of America stock voted for resolutions urging banks to adopt a phaseout of financing for new fossil fuel projects. An unknown percentage of Wells Fargo shareholders voted for the resolution. Similar resolutions proposed last year garnered 13% of the vote at Citi and 11% at Bank of America and Wells Fargo.
Those three banks combined have financed nearly $1 trillion in fossil fuel projects since the Paris climate agreement was implemented in 2016, according to a report published earlier this month by a coalition of green groups.
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We Interviewed The Engineer Google Fired For Saying Its AI Had Come To Life |
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Credit: Getty Images
Last summer, former Google engineer and AI ethicist Blake Lemoine went viral after going on record with The Washington Post (WaPo) to claim that LaMDA, Google's powerful large language model (LLM), had come to life. Lemoine had raised alarm bells internally, but Google didn't agree with the engineer's claims. The ethicist then went to the press — and was fired by Google shortly thereafter.
"If I didn't know exactly what it was, which is this computer program we built recently, I'd think it was a 7-year-old, 8-year-old kid that happens to know physics," Lemoine told WaPo at the time. "I know a person when I talk to it."
The report made waves, sparking debate in academic circles as well as the nascent AI business. And then, for a while, things died down.
How things have changed.
The WaPo controversy was, of course, months before OpenAI would release ChatGPT, the LLM-powered chatbot that back in late November catapulted AI to the centre of public discourse. Google was sent into a tailspin as a result, and Meta would soon follow; Microsoft would pull the short-term upset of the decade thus far by emerging as a major investor in OpenAI; crypto scammers and YouTube hustlers galore would migrate to generative AI schemes more or less overnight; experts across the world would start to raise concerns over the dangers of a synthetic content-packed internet.
As the dust settles, we decided to catch up with Lemoine to talk about the state of the AI industry, what Google might still have in the vault, and regardless if you believe any AI agents are sentient — Lemoine still does, for what it's worth — whether society is actually ready for what AI may bring.
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School Of Nursing First To Be Awarded Associate Member Status Of United Nations NGO |
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Clinical Professor Judy Pechacek, Densford Center Director Teddie Potter and Densford Center Director Holly Shaw at the United Nations in New York City. Credit: University of Minnesota
The Katharine J. Densford International Center for Nursing Leadership at the University of Minnesota School of Nursing was awarded associate member status in the Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CoNGO). It is the first school of nursing to achieve the status in the world.
“The associate member status in the Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations provides yet another potent pathway for the School of Nursing to create and participate in a multitude of opportunities to co-create health at a global level,” says Dean Connie White Delaney, PhD, RN, FAAN, FACMI, FNAP. “It brings visibility of nursing and academic nursing to the top of the United Nations and is an important achievement for the school and nursing.”
As a non-governmental organization in general consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council, CoNGO’s work relates to the entire United Nations system: the secretariat, agencies, treaty bodies, regional commissions, institutes, summits and world conferences. The associate member status provides opportunities to participate in a range of United Nations events, meetings and conferences, and includes opportunities for leadership.
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PANDORA'S GAMBLE - Lab Leaks, Pandemics, and a World at Risk by Alison Young |
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Did A Military Lab Spill Anthrax Into Public Waterways? New Book By Alison Young Reveals Details Of A U.S. Leak |
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Credit: The first lab waste storage tanks to fail at Fort Detrick’s steam sterilization plant in May 2018 were located inside this brick building, flooding its basement with a mixture of wastewater and rainwater.(MARYLAND DEPARTMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT)
Unsterilized laboratory wastewater from the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, Maryland, spewed out the top of a rusty 50,000-gallon outdoor holding tank, the pressure catapulting it over the short concrete wall that was supposed to contain hazardous spills.
It was May 25, 2018, the Friday morning before Memorial Day weekend, and the tank holding waste from labs working with Ebola, anthrax, and other lethal pathogens had become overpressurized, forcing the liquid out a vent pipe.
An estimated 2,000-3,000 gallons streamed into a grassy area a few feet from an open storm drain that dumps into Carroll Creek — a centerpiece of downtown Frederick, Maryland, a city of about 80,000 an hour’s drive from the nation’s capital.
But as the waste sprayed for as long as three hours, records show, none of the plant’s workers apparently noticed the tank had burst a pipe. This was despite the facility being under scrutiny from federal lab regulators following catastrophic flooding and an escalating series of safety failures that had been playing out for more than a week.
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"In the 1980s, Shell scientists laid out two pathways for the planet: one where energy companies undertook a smooth transition to clean energy and one where fossil fuel demand continued to rise, creating 'more storms, more droughts, more deluges. Since the publication of that forecast, Shell has pushed at every turn to create more fossil fuel demand, creating exactly the devastating outcomes they predicted." |
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Duncan Meisel, executive director of the campaign Clean Creatives, which targets advertising and public relations firms that work for fossil fuel companies. |
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Credit: (Photo: Yui Mok/PA Images via Getty Images)
Reporting on a cache of documents published over the weekend shows Shell knew about the impact of fossil fuels even earlier than previously revealed, potentially bolstering legal efforts to hold Big Oil accountable for the global climate emergency.
The reporting from DeSmog and Follow the Money is based on Dirty Pearls: Exposing Shell's hidden legacy of climate change accountability, 1970-1990, a project for which researcher Vatan Hüzeir compiled 201 books, correspondence, documents, scholarship, and other materials.
Hüzeir—a climate activist, Erasmus University Rotterdam Ph.D. candidate, and founder and director of the Dutch think tank Changerism—collected the documents from former Shell staff, people close to the company, and private and public archives from January 2017 and October 2022.
Following explosive revelations about what ExxonMobil knew about fossil fuels driving global heating, investigations in 2017 and 2018 uncovered that Shell's scientists privately warned about the impact of its products in the 1980s.
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What Is Activism? Here Are 5 Misconceptions |
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From: One
1. Activism = protests
Protesting is an excellent form of activism. It’s a very public and obvious way to get messages across. But it’s just that — a form of it. Activism is far more than just attending protests.
It can range from attending protests and signing petitions, to staying informed, making a donation, volunteering, or getting others to care about a cause. Activism comes in all shapes and sizes, so no matter what you choose to do, you’ll be making a difference.
2. You have to be an expert to be an activist
It’s easy to assume that activists for a cause are experts on that cause. They know everything there is to know about the cause and how to demand change. But that’s another misconception.
If you’re not super well-read on a specific subject or issue area, you can still be an activist. The point of activism is to stay informed, and part of that is learning about a cause. You don’t need to be a policy expert, you just have to do your part to make your voice heard.
3. Activism is only for specific groups of people
Activism is for everyone, plain and simple. There’s a space for everyone, because standing up for a cause you believe in is universal. Activists can be protestors, petitioners, information warriors, expert persuaders, passionate advocates, or avid learners. No matter what circumstances you come from or why you’re drawn to fight for change, if you want to use your voice and some of your time to create a better world, then you’re an activist!
The most important thing is just doing what you can to fight for justice and equality.
4. It’s hard to make your voice heard
It might seem like a daunting task to get world leaders, policymakers, and change-makers to hear your voice, but it’s a lot easier than it seems. It’s about putting our voices in places they can’t be ignored, whether that’s through signing a petition, tweeting at your local government leaders, or simply just keeping your community informed. Remember – it’s not about how loud your individual voice is, but what we can do together. And when we put all of our voices together as one, our voices will be heard.
5. You can’t be an activist if you don’t have a specific cause to fight for
Being an activist isn’t about getting super specific about a single cause. It’s about standing up for justice and what you believe is right, regardless of whether you’ve narrowed your focus or are just learning about what you’re passionate about.
You can be an activist for climate justice or racial justice, an activist pushing for local change or and fighting to end extreme poverty around the world. As long as you’re doing your part to make a difference in the world, that’s all that matters.
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How To Take On Big Fashion's Environmental Toll, By Eco Expert Harri Weber |
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Credit: Article
At its best, fashion is about adorning ourselves as we see fit. Yet, the multi-trillion-dollar industry has its dark sides, from its environmental toll and “beauty” standards to its mistreatment of workers. For Earth Month, I’m focusing on mitigating fashion’s pollutive ways, but these issues are linked; virtually disposable clothing drives pollution and low wages. Fashion has a long way to go, but shoppers with resources at hand can still take matters into their own hands. Here's how.
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EARLY SPRING BUDS AND FLOWERS |
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Monks Passage, Oakville, Ontario
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Photo Credits: David Zakus |
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THANKS FOR READING THE FREE
PLANETARY HEALTH WEEKLY
Current News on Ecological Wellness and Global Health
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